Icom IC-F50/F60V series radio

The IC-F50/F60V series radio is suitable for communication needs in the mining, utilities and transport industries. The transceiver is a direct descendant of the IC-F50/F60 range, which is claimed to have been the first submersible handheld radio for the land mobile industry.

This series of transceivers meets both IP67 (protected against dust ingress and waterproof to a 1 m depth for 30 minutes) and MIL-STD810 standards, allowing it to be used in extreme conditions.

In addition to being fully submersible, the radio features a compact body that is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. The radios have also received a feature upgrade from their predecessors and now include a vibration alert, which is powerful enough to be felt through heavy clothing.

The audio output has been upgraded to 700 mW (due to the built-in BTL amp) and an eight-minute voice recorder has also been included.

The transceiver has access to a wide range of tuning steps including 2.5 and 3.125 kHz (on a per channel basis), offering more spectrum flexibility. The 1700 mAh lithium-ion battery provides 10 hours of typical operating time.

An eight character, 14-segment alphanumeric LCD offers recognisable status and performance information and ease of operation in low light. Built-in signalling capabilities, including CTCSS, DTCS, five-tone selcall, ANI and an inversion-type voice scrambler enable secure group communication without compromising the waterproof integrity of the radio.

The radios are MDC1200 compatible, feature a lone-worker function and have 128 memory channels.